The bus stop is part of American lore: the theme of a Broadway play, the title of a rock ‘n’ roll song, a fixture in cities and suburbs everywhere. But suburbs were developed with automobiles as the primary means of transportation - while so many suburbs have grown exponentially, their bus stops have not evolved. Some may have been renovated, but they haven’t been rethought.
Now as concerns about the environment, energy, and the economy motivate more people to consider using public transportation, it's time to rethink suburban bus stops. The Airport Corridor Transportation Association (ACTA), a Transportation Management Association serving one of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s fastest growing commercial areas, recently completed a study of bus stops in our area. It's principal outcome: a set of replicable suburban bus stop prototypes with the potential to significantly improve the user experience. ACTA hired Maynes and Associates Architects to work with the local constituents to develop the bus stop prototypes that will be better integrated into the suburban landscape, make riders feel safer and increase suburban transit use.
Join us to discuss how bus stop design affects the transit experience and how this study and its designs represent a conceptual leap forward – in effect a rethinking of the suburban bus stop.
Lynn Manion is executive director of the Airport Corridor Transportation Association (ACTA), a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to alleviating traffic congestion, improving air quality and increasing travel options in the western suburbs of Pittsburgh. ACTA is located in Robinson Town Center. In 2008, ACTA received an award of excellence from the Forbes Fund for its community outreach efforts.
Paula Maynes is the Managing Member of Maynes Associates Architects, an architectural and urban design firm specialized in the design of transit facilities and sustainable communities that include transportation choices. Maynes Associates Architects was established in 1993 and is located in one of Pittsburgh’s great livable neighborhoods, the South Side.
5-9 p.m. at Mitchell's Restaurant, 304 Ross St (at Third Avenue), Pittsburgh, PA 15219; (412) 471-3663 Get Map & Directions »
What is Green Drinks?
Every month, people who work in the environmental field or have in interest in a greener planet meet up for drinks at places all around the world at informal sessions known as Green Drinks. We have a lively mixture of people from Non profit, academia, labor, government, media and business. Come along and you'll be made welcome. Just say, "are you green?" and we will look after you and introduce you to whoever is there. It's a great way of catching up with people you know and also for making new contacts. Everyone invites someone else along, so there's always a different crowd, making Green Drinks an organic, self-organizing network.
These events are simple and unstructured. Make friends, develop new ideas, do deals and forge a new organic future. It's a force for the good and we'd like to help its spreading to other cities. Green Drinks meets on the 3rd Friday of each month from 5:00 - 9:00 PM...or later!! Put it in your calendar and count on it: Green Drinks is happening every month. http://www.greendrinks.org/
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